Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Settling In

Goodbye, 2012.

The kids all go back to school today, which is usually something I look forward to. But as this past 2 1/2 weeks of vacation has been a lovely blur of sleeping in, eating way too much, snuggling on the couch watching Netflix with my babies, and living in a general state of slothfulness, I'm really going to miss it.

I've done a word of the year for awhile now, in lieu of a formal set of resolutions, and for 2012 it was "intentional." My mini-challenge of keeping my bathroom counter clean fell under that heading, and didn't end in failure, so...that's something. I listed the stuff I'd like to work on this year, but it doesn't take long until reaching a scroll like length full of nothing but things I need to do MORE of, like

* more meal planning
* more exercise
* more regular meals for me, instead of just an afternoon snack and dinner
* more studying the scriptures
* more following through and making sure kids have done what they say they've done (chores, homework)
* more money in savings
* more cleaning up after I make a mess
* more dates with my husband
* more organizing
* more time doing the little stuff that falls through the cracks with my job at church
* more wearing actual clothes rather than slumming around in sweats and Potbelly tees that smell of ham

Bleh. I'm overwhelmed already just from looking at it, and that's just the tip o' the iceberg. So I'm going to stick with the one theme strategy. The first word that came to mind was "recommit," but after readingCynthia's thoughts I realized that it could possibly carry too much of a negative vibe. Like

REcommit: because up until now you've really sucked.

Instead, I've decided to go with a more supportive push, knowing that as much as I need to do more, sometimes I also need to do less. 2013 is going to be challenging, but without the force part. I tend to resist anything that hurts or is hard or, as a naturally anxious overachieving type, adds to my list of things to stress over/feel guilty about. This year's word is

DEVELOP

That's seems doable, no? Like practicing the piano. With some Christmas money I got myself a book of medium to hard songs: the easier stuff to encourage me, and the more challenging stuff to DEVELOP me. It's my job to set a good example on what it means to practice, and if I've just got music that I can play with my eyes closed, where's the growth in that?

{if anyone has any favorite stuff to play, tell me about it - I'm still on the hunt for more}

I'd also like to try to branch out and DEVELOP my awareness of those not within my immediate circle of acquaintances. Arianne came witha fantastic idea as a way to help remember those lives that were lost a few weeks ago in the tragedy in Connecticut.

Every month on the 14th, take a moment out of your day and perform a random act of kindness. Go read her post, as she puts it much more eloquently than I ever could (add to list: DEVELOP writing skills), but I love, love, super love this idea and will be participating all year long. If nothing else, that will be checked off in December as something I followed through on.

The project to-do list in 2013 is lengthy as well, and hopefully some of those will 1) be started 2) be finished and 3) be blogged about. I usually lose steam somewhere between steps 1 and 2.

{source: a dead end link on pinterest}

What are you working on this year?

P.S There are some things that I've just accepted as part of my nature and therefore am NOT trying to change. My hubby and I were interviewed about differences in car organization for this article in the Wall Street Journal. I can assure you that "free form mess" is putting it gently.

16 comments:

Look at you in the Wall Street Journal! Dang, you get more and more famous every day!

I laughed at the goal of Laura (above) because I think I will take on that goal too. It should be *extremely* easy for me not to get pregnant though. But it's good to set goals you know you can accomplish, right? ;)

I love the idea about the random act of kindness, thanks for the link. My goals for the year are pretty simple: get things done. Finish projects I've started and finish big projects that I've been wanting to do since we moved in. I guess that means my 2013 word of the year is "finish." This is so my word of the year for 2014 can be "relax."

Maybe I should come up with a word/theme for he year too. There are a bunch of things I need to do and not do and when I make them into a resolution they seem too overwhelming and I feel like I have to do it perfect or not at all. Maybe I need a word to encourage me to just do better in some aspects. I'm thinking de-stress might be the word for me.Actually I have started on that path. I have been on 3 design teams for the last year and it has just gotten to be way too much. I find that all I'm crafting are the things for the teams. I haven't scrapbooked a page in ages....well not exactly true, but the one I did was also for the team. I have cut down to 1 team and hopefully that will cut the stress a bit. Great post! You've given me a bit of inspiration here! Thanks!

What a great idea to do something kind on the 14th of each month - borrowing that one.

I'm an annual one-worder too. This year mine is Persevere. We've had a hella difficult few years and things are starting to look up. Damn. Maybe it's cheating to pick persevere as I've already been doing that, BUT not intentionally so I'm sticking with it.

I'm going for 'accept', my resolution being to accept what I cannot change, about the past and especially the last year. And to get more knitting and blogging done. I hope you have a really great year, and can honestly claim by next January to have embodied development. Thank you for the inspiring post.

I'm going for 'accept', my resolution being to accept what I cannot change, about the past and especially the last year. And to get more knitting and blogging done. I hope you have a really great year, and can honestly claim by next January to have embodied development. Thank you for the inspiring post.

I don't do resolutions because they always make me feel bad in the end... goals however, well you can keep aiming for those! I'm 13weeks pregnant with my first, so my goal is a)not obsess about getting "fat" b) give birth without pooping on the table and c) try to keep the kid alive until the end of the year...Oh, and then somewhere in there, work on Madame Clochette... yikes.I need a nap.